Get to Know Your Local Historical Societies: Friends of the Cemetery

 

By Lauren Kuntzman

Medina County is fortunate to have many societies dedicated to preserving our local history. On the MCDL Genealogy Team blog, we periodically feature these societies.

With National Arbor Day on April 29, it seemed like the perfect time to highlight the Friends of the Cemetery and their work in creating the Spring Grove Cemetery Arboretum. Arboretums are outdoor museums of trees and plants -- and Spring Grove Cemetery has a collection of more than 600 trees.  Teresa Merkle, Friends of the Cemetery president, shared with us details about the cemetery's unique status in Medina County, Ohio.  

Q: What process did the Friends of the Cemetery have to go through for Spring Grove Cemetery to be recognized as the only Arboretum in Medina County, Ohio? 

Merkle: Documentation of the Spring Grove Cemetery trees was the first step we took.  In 2020 the Friends hired Bartlett Tree Expert Company to complete a Tree Inventory and Management Plan of Spring Grove.  We learned from this plan that we have a collection of more than 600 trees, of which there are 80+ species.  With the Spring Grove Tree Inventory and Management Plan in hand, we made application to ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program.  Spring Grove was awarded Level II accreditation in 2021 and is recognized as an arboretum in the Morton Register of Arboreta, a database of the world’s arboreta and gardens. View the cemetery's entry on the registry at https://arbnet.org/morton-register/spring-grove-cemetery.

Q: How can people enjoy the Spring Grove Arboretum?  What can they expect to find there? 

Merkle: Spring Grove Cemetery grounds are open to the public every day and the public is encouraged to use the grounds for exercise, bird and wildlife watching, relaxation, reflection and, of course, to enjoy the beauty of the arboretum.  There are currently 48 species of trees at Spring Grove marked with permanent arboretum tree signs (we plan to add more signage each year).  These signs identify the tree’s common and Latin name, its family name, location of origin, and a fun fact about that species.  A QR code is also located on each sign which enables smart phone users to be directed to more in-depth information regarding that particular species of tree.  A colorful walking map of the 48 featured tree species is also available here. 

Q: If individuals want to volunteer with Spring Grove Cemetery, how can they get involved? 

Merkle: Become a member of the Friends of the Cemetery.  See our membership schedule on our website at https://friendsofmedinacemetery.org.  

Q: Does Friends of the Cemetery have any upcoming events? 

Merkle: Yes!  We have several events planned for the public throughout 2022.   

• Memorial Day services will be held at Spring Grove after the Memorial Day parade on Monday, May 30, 2022 and the Friends will have the historic chapel and mausoleum open to the public for viewing.   
• Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 1:00 pm, is our annual Historical Walk at Spring Grove Cemetery.  At this event we walk along the shade tree lined avenues of Spring Grove, stopping along the way at gravesites to hear stories about people from Medina’s past.   This event is free and open to the public and is wheelchair, stroller, wagon and pet-friendly. 
• Saturday, October 8, 2022 from 2:00 – 4:00 pm, we will be hosting our annual self-guided Spring Grove Arboretum Walk. We provide maps that direct walkers to our showcased arboretum trees.  Kids of all ages enjoy the tree-themed scavenger hunt and tree seedling giveaways. This is a popular event and free to the public.  This event is also wheelchair, stroller, wagon and pet-friendly. 

Q: What else would you like everyone to know about the Friends of the Cemetery? 

Merkle: Friends of the Cemetery is a non-profit organization founded in 1997 that is dedicated to the beautification, historic preservation, maintenance and appreciation of Spring Grove Cemetery (1883) and Old Town Graveyard (1818) located here in Medina, Ohio. 

Learn more about the Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum at https://friendsofmedinacemetery.org/visit/spring-grove-arboretum.  Learn more about the Friends of the Cemetery's accomplishments here. 

New Local/Family History Resources Online!

 By Lauren Kuntzman

The MCDL Genealogy Team has several new resources for Medina County, Ohio available online! Use these resources to explore the history of our community and learn more about your relatives’ lives!



High School Yearbooks

Previously Medina High School yearbooks from 1913 to 1974 were digitized and made available online. Now, yearbooks from other county schools are accessible through the links below. View the entire collection at https://archive.org/details/medinahighschoolyearbooks. 

Buckeye High School Yearbooks
1950s – 1958
1960s – 1966
1970s – 1976







Chatham High School Yearbooks
1950s – 1950, 1951

Cloverleaf High School Yearbooks
1960s – 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969
1970s – 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977








Highland High School Yearbooks
1960s – 1967, 1968, 1969
1970s – 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1979

Lodi High School Yearbooks
1930s – 1934, 1936, 1939
1940s – 1941, 1942-1943, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949
1950s – 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959
1960s – 1960

Brunswick High School Yearbooks have been digitized by Brunswick Area Historical Society. View these yearbooks on the society’s homepage at https://brunswickhistory.com.

Historic Newspapers

Last year, we began the Digital Archives of MCDL, an online resource in which historic Medina County, Ohio newspapers can be searched by keywords. This year, we added more years of the Medina County Gazette (now up to 1965), plus we’ve added several newspapers from Brunswick including:

• Brunswick Signal (1936-1936)
• Brunswick Citizen (1958-1958)
• The Brunswick Reporter (1960-1960)
• Tri-County News (1970-1970)
• The County Line (1973-1975)
• Brunswick Times And The County Line (1975-1975)
• Brunswick Times (1975-1978)

Search these newspapers and more at https://mcdl.info/newspapers.





Photographs & Postcards

The MCDL Genealogy Team is working on digitizing photographs and postcards from our collections. These images will be shared on Instagram on Thursdays. 

To see all of the images, follow our tag on Instagram: https://instagram.com/explore/tags/vwmfhlc. 

You can also follow Medina Library (https://instagram.com/medinalibrary) to see all the library’s postings!

16 MM FILM DIGITIZATION!

Digitizing 16 MM film is now possible at the VWM Family History & Learning Center! 

After many trials and errors, we now feel confident we can help our members digitize their old 16 mm films.

There are a few things to know before you reach for the phone to make your appointment!

First, MAKE AN APPOINTMENT! 

Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate walk-ins.  We have to reserve a special room and equipment needs to be set up. 

To set up an appointment call at 330-725-0588 x 5017 or email us at makerspace@mcdl.info.

When you do make your appointment we will need to know the following information:

16 MM                       8 MM

Do you really have 16 MM movie film?  The photograph to the left shows the difference between 16 MM and 8 MM film. 

How many canisters of film did you want to digitize? How big are the reels? And are they full?


The process is done in real time (no pun intended). If the reel is 5-7 inches in diameter and is a full reel it could take about 30 minutes to digitize.

Do you have a smartphone, i.e. iPhone, Samsung, etc.?  The phone will be used to capture the film and save it digitally.  

You will need to bring your reels and smartphone for your appointment. Please make sure you have enough memory space on your phone to capture the film. A 30 minute reel takes about 2.7 GBs of memory. 

If you are not sure there is enough memory on your smart phone or you don’t own a smart phone, just let us know so we can provide a video camera to do the filming instead of your phone. 

When you come for your appointment we will have the projector set up and in the reserved room. Someone will walk you through the process and depending on how comfortable you are, we may be with you through the whole appointment or just the first 10-15 minutes to get you started. We will always be available for any questions or problems that arise.

We have found the results may differ due to a few variables. The type and age of you smart phone and quality and age of the film will determine how the digitized video comes out.  Also, the digitized recording may need to be edited, due to jumpy film or awkward framing. Watch the clip below to see an example of what it may look like.*

 

*You need to click on the center arrow and then the arrow in the left hand corner of the viewer to play the video.

Herman Fulmer family,16 mm film, ca. 1946

Fishing trip in Canada

After all of the film has been digitized, we will show you either how to download it and save it to a 32 GB (or larger) flash drive or how to upload it to your "cloud". 

An additional appointment may be made if you want to edit the digitized film. (Different equipment and software is used for editing.)

If you have any questions about the process, please call us at 330-725-0588 x5017 or email us at makerspace@mcdl.info. We will be glad to answer any questions you may have.

IT'S HERE!! The 1950 Census is Now Available!

 

by Kathy Petras

Access to the information in the 1950 census was restricted for 72 years because of a rule that the U.S. Congress passed in 1978. The National Archives released that information last Friday at 12:01 a.m. on April 1st. What a wonderful April Fool's Day surprise!

Form P1 is the form used for enumerating every U.S. citizen in 1950.

The release at the National Archives went smoothly despite many people's  predictions (mine included) about crashing the site. By using Artificial Intelligence Optical Character Recognition, AI-OCR, the archives created an indexing and searching system that works surprisingly very well! Within minutes of sitting down to my computer early Friday morning I had found both of my parents and three out of four of my grandparents. Others were reporting similar results.

Excerpt from the 1950 Census showing my grandfather, Lunas, his second wife, Della, then my father, Lawson,  Uncle Ed (aka Bud) and Aunt Dorothy. 20 questions were asked about every household member. Four people
on each page were asked an additional 20 questions. Uncle Ed was one of the people selected for the additional questions. Since he was just a 13 year old school boy, many of the questions didn't apply to him.

Because of quirks in the indexing system, it is not, at this time, an every name index. So I haven't been able to find my other grandmother and several sets of aunts and uncles - YET!

Start searching on the National Archives site HERE.  If you know the address or the enumerations district for your relatives, you can browse the district.

Later that day, the images started appearing on the FamilySearch website. 1950 census images can be browsed on FamilySearch via this MAP. 

1950 Census logo from FamilySearch

And the images are also being uploaded to the Ancestry.com and the My Heritage as well as other web sites.

Ancestry and FamilySearch are working together to refine the indexing provided by the National Archives.

To learn more about the 1950 census, how to use it and what you can find in it, register for the Family History Center's Genealogy Slam! program on May 7th at the Brunswick Library HERE. The three hour event (1-4 p.m.) will also cover U.K. Census Records and tips for locating that hard-to-find ancestor.

Hope to see you there!